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By: Stephen Williams

MORROW, Ga. – Ten years after winning its last Peach Belt Conference regular season championship, the Columbus State University men's basketball team is back on top following a 93-72 victory at Clayton State on Wednesday night. The game was played at The Loch in Morrow, Ga.
 
Columbus State (20-6, 14-5 PBC) captured its fifth PBC regular season crown and its first since the 2005-06 season. The Cougars share the title with Montevallo, which also finished with a 14-5 conference mark.
 
By virtue of a tiebreaker, CSU will be the top seed out of the West Division in the upcoming PBC Tournament. The Cougars will open up with fourth-seeded Francis Marion on Sunday at 4 p.m. inside the Lumpkin Center.
 
"I'm so proud of those guys in that locker room," head coach Robert Moore said. "When I took this job six years ago, these are the things that we wanted to accomplish and we hope this is just the start.
 
Cam Baker led five Cougars in double figures with 19 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Brentine Taylor went 6-for-8 from the field on his way to 17 points, while Brent Jackson knocked down five three-pointers and finished with 16. JaCori Payne added 16 of his own and DeMarcus McVay ended with 10 points and eight boards.
 
"We stayed focused and locked in for 40 minutes tonight. Our guys did a great job at the end of the first half and it took off from there.
 
Columbus State got off to a quick start as Baker scored on the opening possession and Jackson followed with his first three of the night.
 
Clayton State (14-12, 9-10) came roaring back though and gained a slim lead while keeping the game close for the first 13 minutes.
 
With the game tied at 29 with seven to play in the first half, the Cougars turned on the jets and ran away from the Lakers. Arben Camaj jumpstarted the offense off a pass from Darren Daniel and Payne scored five straight points for a quick 7-0 run.
 
The Lakers pulled within five (39-34) at the three-minute mark, but it was all Cougars from there. Taylor scored four points before McVay got in on the act. Jackson hit yet another three and Baker put one in just before the buzzer to cap the 11-0 spurt that sent the Cougars into the locker room with a 50-34 lead.
 
The lead continued to grow after the break, reaching 20 on a three-pointer from Demetres Abrams less than three minutes into the second half.
 
Clayton State fought back again though, making things interesting midway through the second. The Lakers converted a three-point play with 10 minutes remaining to get the game inside single digits (70-61).
 
The momentum wouldn't last long however, as Baker drove the length of the floor and powered home a one-handed slam to spark the Cougars. CSU's advantage ballooned right back up to 17 and Columbus State cruised down the home stretch.
 
The Cougars shot 54.4 percent (37-for-68) on the night, their fourth-best shooting performance of the season. CSU knocked down 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) threes and went 11-of-16 from the foul line. Columbus State also owned the glass, grabbing 46 rebounds to just 32 for the Lakers.
 
Clayton State was limited to 40.5 percent (30-of-74) shooting and 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc.